Omedas-By-Night

Magnus sat in the "sight garden" just after midnight. It had now been eight years since his birth as the epitome of Golemancy, a Warforged. The moonlight reflected off the polished, black metal making up the Adamantine plating of his metal and ash wood body. He sighs, sadly, about not being able to smile noticeably while adding reinforced grommets to the brand new gray long-coat Wyrran Ayers gave him.

Sitting outside at night without armor or clothing is the closest thing he has to understanding bathing that those with flesh must deal with. He glances over at the recurve longbow drying from its final treatment and the black leather case stamped on the top and bottom with Kord's symbol. The layered wood, bone, of the bow is reinforced on the backside by the horn of some sort of beast. Magnus had etched the bow's name into the horn: "Skein Slayer – fate's final cut." He cocks his head to the side realizing he had not made him a quiver, but longbows are not cheap and this one is made using an ancient technique, one that he. . .

. . .can't remember why he knows how to do.

Sigh.

Absalom was right, he thought to himself. He couldn't ignore his past any longer for the sake of living a normal life. He would talk to him when the sun comes up. Having done odd work off and on for Francis Ballard over the last three years has helped him pay for his projects he has done for his friends. However, he couldn't ignore the fact that he knows things and now the lack of why was becoming bothersome. Could something he knows be important? Maybe his father/creator buried a clue in his mind? Did his creation have to do with Omedas' disappearance? No these questions cannot be ignored any longer.

It was a little over 3 years ago now that he met his new family in in Eldor. Werewolf raiders had attacked the Elvish City and the defense of that city was the event bringing them together. Afterwards, it was hearing the cries of an Elven woman holding her young half-elven daughter that had been bitten by one of the Lycans. Not aware at the time but this was the introduction of Sane and Alynn. Given knowledge the Fae-folk of the surrounding woods that bore the same name of the otherwordly land of the Fae. The group left Eldor by various means and regrouped on the edge of the Feywild Forests.

They did find a true Fae among the elf woods and her price was high. The mother's life to enchant an apple that would remove the curse. As any true parent would she did not hesitate to give herself over seeing the sickness begin to ravage her daughter, Sane. Seeds were taken from the apple and held onto by the party, having sworn to become the guardians of the now orphaned girls. Sane awoke to find out she had become a Sorceress of a fae bloodline, and Alynn took to learning fighting from Magnus with pointers on light weapons by Gabriel.

While they had worked on getting to the true Fae the group did destroy some of her pets and were tasked with getting rid of some Bugbears that had become a annoyance to the true Fae. In dealing with the creatures the group ran across an organizer that had been researching Magnus of all people! Here they met and fought Salie Sabond for the first time. Dubbing her the "Pink Lady" because of her attire. She unleashed her proto Goblin versions of Magnus's Warforged form upon the group. Asriel the Half Orc, Gabriel the Drow Elf, Wyrran the Wood Elf, Alynn the Half-Elf, and Sir Henryk the Human Blood Hunter fought their way free. Upon returning to where Sane and the true Fae had stayed behind they found the "Pink Lady" had struck. The true Fae had been killed and Sane had been hiding. Gathering up the other Half-Elf they returned to Eldor.

The following day they met Absalom and with some found keys they investigated Salie "The Pink Lady" Sabond's house in Eldor. They freed people within and in a nursery they fought a few "Gibbering Mouthers" and nearly failed to escape. Absalom, lit the place on fire on our way out to prevent the monsters from escaping. However, it had the unintended side effect of killing one of the city's fire brigade. It was decided to leave town given the questionably legal position the group was in should it come to light.

Escaping through the Feywild Forest overland had plenty of problems including rescuing a bard from another of the true Fae. Onward from there it was decided to head for Wraithguard. ALong the way the group picked up a large wagon, some horses, and a spinster bride for Wyrran thanks to Absalom's skills in negotiations. What no one saw coming until the next town was that Salie Sabond was disguised as the spinster! Absalom pieced together the name and that it was an anagram. A battle ensued and Sane was taken by Salie to Wraithguard. Alynn officially became an apprentice to Magnus at that time, though everyone volunteered to train her in their fashion.

Made it through the border, thanks to Ser Henryk helping to get us past any of the church watching for non-blessed magic wielders. The journey had taken months and we finally made it to the rural suburbs of Wraithguard. Arriving at the cabin of Arbiter Geffroi Stonefoot, a Dwarf hunter of the dark within this city of various magic practitioners. Gabriel and Magnus had a conversation where Magnus had made it clear he would protect Gabriel if it came down to that.

The group heads into Wraithguard proper, visiting Absalom's former lab where he collects some items and comes out. The group met Francis Ballard when they first arrived in Wraithguard. Working out of a back room at the "Orc's Ley Line" they sought information regarding a mysterious alley. Magnus revealed that he was a unique type of golem in order to acquire provisions the team used to investigate the alley that moves about the city randomly.

Upon searching Magnus is the one that finds the alley from his loose collections of memories after his awakening on the night Omedas and the sun were lost. They stopped when they made it past the magical guards to Salie's door of her Wraithguard home. Sending her a message that they were on their way to pick up Sane. That is where everything goes a little sideways. Turns out Salie lost her daughter and had been researching me as a way to give her soul a body. Salie had trapped the soul the the prepared room with an empty crib. Sane was not kidnapped but had willingly went with her because she thought we were bad parents. She was not wrong – what is it they say about to many cooks? We managed to bring about a peaceful resolution and solve the alley mystery for Francis.

During that moment three years past Absalom forced more magic than his body could handle and he touched some force beyond the far realms. He was taken by spiders from another plane of existence! It was not horribly long before he was returned. However, we all know what he unleashed and made aware of our world is coming. The question is – are we ready?

Or, Power Unseen

Absalom sat in the clean house the Myconoids provided their rag-tag group of would-be heroes. It had been an exhausting few days, he reflected, as he finished drying off his journal. But where to begin? Patting his pockets for a quill and ink, Absalom found himself to be out of luck. Of course, that's what he got for going swimming. To be fair, he was surprised he even had pockets after all the beatings he'd been taking. Grumbling to himself, he activated a prestidigitation spell to sew a few threads together. Clarissa wouldn't have approved, but she wasn't around to get after him now, was she?

Opening his journal, Absalom begins to write. On the idea of faith, his discussion with Salie, the use of faith as a power source. Goodness, to believe that the gods themselves could be struck down would label him a madman across the continent, should he ever publish his work. Still, Absalom mused as he wrote, it's not as though he was looking to see a printer anytime soon. But then, he may find someone interested in his writing.

Sitting back, eyes hurting from squinting, Absalom cleans his spectacles before placing them on his nose. Marking his place, he closes his book and moves to a window. Admittedly, this requires moving a chair as well, but the view was worth it.

It was strange, Absalom thought. He had visited this cavern before, but he must not have sought further exploration into its depths. He'd always preferred to travel in the fresh air anyways, but still, the Myconoid village was fascinating. Amidst the luminescence, Absalom could almost ignore the sights he had been seeing since that fateful night 3 years ago. His chest still hurt sometimes, despite the lack of scar. Would they be able to solve this mystery, and find the womb-like cave? Somewhere out there, something was growing, and preparing to enter the world. Would they be strong enough? Would they care enough to stop it?

Shaking his head, Absalom was amazed at himself. Chuckling, he considered that never before being rescued by those he now called friends, did he consider himself to have companions before. Life was lonely, and sometimes it was awful. He'd accepted that. But maybe it didn't have to be. Maybe, Absalom thought, returning to his journal…maybe there was something to Magnus and his dry, stubborn optimism. Whatever the case would be, Absalom had already admitted to himself that he was willing to die alongside his companions. Now, to ensure that that would never happen…

Some history, and the Nations of the Campaign.

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The Politics Patch

The State of Omedas

Omedas refers to both the Archangel and the land and state across the Divide from the Lost North, that stretches from the Ashen Swamp in the South to Rockport in the North. It is a theocracy. The entire nation falls under, first and foremost, the Three Tenants.

Thou shalt destroy thine dead.

Thou shalt have no other faith before [Omedas].

Thou shalt practice no foul witchcraft.

As such, heretics, non-divine magic, and unburned corpses are illegal within the land of Omedas.

Omedas is governed entirely by the Clergy of Omedas, which is under the (tentative) control of Kal Bismarck. Bismarck controls via a complex web of deals, agreements, blackmail, and subversion between himself and his fellow Clergymen (there are no women.).

The Clergy enforce their laws through a hierarchy of military might and a few (rumored) shadier means (several have accused the Clergy of ties with vampires. Accusers tend to disappear.)

Urban has been holding back the rest of his Clergymen from invading the North past the Divide, seeing another war as an unnecessary loss of life in a trying time.

The Divide

Omedas, before the beginnings of the Divide, had several small wars with the werewolves in the Lost North, culminating in the Sun’s War. It is told in legend that Omedas had suffered major defeats against the werewolf tribe,and had been pushed back from approximately where Wraithguard exists today, to the Divide, which at that point was unremarkable forest. Legend has it that during the battle on the coast of where the divide, when the battle seemed the most dire, and the army of Omedas’ Clergy was about to rout, a cleric’s voice rose above the great drone of battle. He called out to Omedas for help, and it is said that Omedas answered. A great beam of sunlight reached across the land and burned a line across the entire continent, reducing to ash everything in it’s path. This line is now called the Divide.

And thus, the war had ended, the borders were burned clear, and the cutting of the Divide began. The Lost North became what it is today: a place to put the heretics and witches, which could not come back due to the great power of the Holy Armies of Omedas. And this continued for 1000 years, until one day, the great being that drew the line in the ground simply disappeared. In this last 1000 years, Oakheart, Wraithguard, and the Ruined Coast sprang up from the rejects of Omedas.

The Lost North

The Lost North exists as a loose group of tribes: The werewolves in Wolves’ Run, the wizard gnomes that, until recently, existed in the Ruined Coast, the arcanists of Wraithguard, and the druids of Oakheart. No one has ever drawn these tribes into coalition. The only force that applies across the entire North is one collective trait: Rejection of Omedas. Some even call for attacks on Omedas, but this is held back by individual weakness when faced with the forces of the Holy Armies.

Unbeknownst to our heroes, this threatens to change. A half-elven girl in a workshop is working on a little project that she believes might be interesting to a family member. It’s a missile weapon, as her caretaker would refer to it, sending a small lead pellet at extremely high speeds through the ignition gunpowder. It threatens to change the unsteady peace of the last 1000 years.